Wrong!
Air New Zealand Limited is a state owned enterprise. Accordingly, it has statutory obligations that other private companies are not subject to; namely:
4 Principal objective to be successful business
(1)The principal objective of every State enterprise shall be to operate as a successful business and, to this end, to be—
(a)as profitable and efficient as comparable businesses that are not owned by the Crown; and
(b)a good employer; and
(c)an organisation that exhibits a sense of social responsibility by having regard to the interests of the community in which it operates and by endeavouring to accommodate or encourage these when able to do so.
So let's unpackage that:
4(1)(a) says that the enterprise shall be as profitable as comparable businesses that are not owned by the crown. Note it does not say that it shall be more profitable than et cetera. We always hear about the amazing profitability of the airline in the face of the conditions and how it is an amazing performer compared with other airlines.
Airline profits are crummy in the best of times so for Air New Zealand to be making a stellar profit year-in-year-out probably actually contradicts the statute because, rather than being as profitable as comparable businesses, it is being run more profitably than comparable businesses.
The second part of the legislation I have trouble reconciling with the reality of Air New Zealand's philosophy is 4(1)(c) which says the enterprise should
"[Exhibit] a sense of social responsibility by having regard to the interests of the community in which it operates and by endeavouring to accommodate or encourage these when able to do so."
It is hard to see how cutting services to remote towns in New Zealand is responsible to the community. Even if you took the 'when able to do so' caveat, you would stumble in the face of the fact that the airline has operated those routes for decades.
So you are wrong when you say the airline is simply a private interest. It has statutory obligations that I have briefly and clumsily outlined above. I do not believe it is currently fulfilling them.